If you’ve been hanging out here lately, you know I’ve been a champion sleeper since birth.

For almost two decades, from the time I was 10-28, I had to cut my sleep short for school or work, often working multiple jobs and long shifts.

Still, I always prioritized sleep as much as I could, and it was key to healing my disordered eating, PCOS, acne, chronic fatigue, and more.

Over the past few years, since leaving New York and moving to Costa Rica, I’ve been able to fully embrace my natural sleep cycle, scheduling my work around my sleep rather than my sleep around my work.

This has been a big key to unlocking greater hormone balance and greater health than I’ve ever experienced in my life, with multiple doctors and specialists confirming that.

You can imagine how excited I was when new research came out saying women may need more than 8 hours of sleep.

I prefer to self-source validation and verify things through my body – since each body is unique – but when the science backs me up, it’s very satisfying.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been told that 7-8 hours of sleep is enough.

It made me feel a little crazy, since I’ve always felt my best with 9-10 hours of sleep.

It turns out the large majority of the research proving the 7-8 hour range was done on men, who have very different biochemistry than women – namely, a 24-hour hormone cycle rather than a monthly hormone cycle.

While some research suggests that everyone could benefit from more than 7-8 hours of sleep1, it seems that women are especially likely to need 8-10 hours.

Here’s why…

  1. Sleep is key for female hormone replenishment2. Without enough sleep, our unique hormone cycle can get disrupted, increasing the risk of hormone imbalances and other health issues that aren’t as likely to develop in men. 
  2. Women have a shorter circadian and melatonin rhythm than men2. This means that the stress hormone cortisol decreases and melatonin increases sooner in women than in men, impairing nighttime brain function. 
  3. Women multitask more often, while men are more likely to focus on one thing at a time3, 4. This is simply a biological difference (one isn’t better than the other) that can lead to greater neural fatigue in women. 
  4. Women are more prone to stress, depression, hostility, and anger when they’re not getting enough sleep5. Men, on the other hand, seem to be more resilient to sleep deprivation. 
  5. Women rely on their adrenal glands for energy-producing hormones like cortisol, whereas men get 95% of their energy-producing testosterone from their testicles6. When the adrenals are stressed from a lack of sleep, women are more likely to experience fatigue and other health issues.

In most areas of health, women have been massively underrepresented in studies, if included at all.

Today there are still areas of health that doctors don’t know how to address, because they only occur in women and therefore haven’t been studied.

Over and over, women with hormone-related conditions like endometriosis and PCOS are given bandaids, like the pill, to suppress symptoms rather than healing the body in any way.

In the long term, these bandaids often worsen the original condition and create new health issues.

When it comes to women’s health, it’s clear that sleep could be a big missing piece of the puzzle.

If you feel better with more sleep – happier, more energized, and more productive – don’t hesitate to give yourself that medicine.

I know how challenging it can be – there is SO much judgment around sleep.

If you sleep a lot, you’re considered lazy, but sleep is literally medicine, and especially important if you’re navigating health issues.

When I’m sleeping more, I sometimes judge myself, but then I remember I feel healthier and happier, and I’m still getting everything done – it’s just happening later in the day, which completely suits my lifestyle.

How much sleep is ideal for you?

Do you have trouble giving yourself the sleep you need?

I hope what I’ve shared today helps.

Much love,
Lula

References
1. Over 8 hours of sleep–marker of increased mortality in Mediterranean population: follow-up population study
2. Sex differences in the circadian regulation of sleep and waking cognition in humans
3. Are women better than men at multi-tasking?
4. Battle of the Brain: Men Vs. Women
5. Poor Sleep More Dangerous For Women
6. Testosterone, aging, and the mind